I was thinking about hunting in South Africa and wondered about overseas hunters hunting here and the following questions came to mind. please give me your thoughts and feelings what you require out of your SA safari

1. does very body wanna stay in a fancy lodge ?
2. do you wanna eat traditional SA foods only ?
3. exept for your trophy what memories do you wanna take home
4. what do you expect from a SA safari

Hope you can shed some light for me on this topic it will be of great help

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1. does very body wanna stay in a fancy lodge ?

No. I want some place warm to sleep where I won't be eaten by the local fauna.

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2. do you wanna eat traditional SA foods only ?

Not necessarily but it would be OK.

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3. exept for your trophy what memories do you wanna take home

Photos.

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4. what do you expect from a SA safari

I want to get up early and hunt all day.

Quick and painless firearms permit processing at the airport.

A comfortable but rustic lodge.

Mostly American food with some sampling of SA foood.

Don't want to see the same game fence over and over during the hunt.

Some bird shooting mixed in with the plainsgame hunting.

An honest description of the hunt details in the website.

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Originally posted by Muletrain:
Quick and painless firearms permit processing at the airport.

A comfortable but rustic lodge.

Mostly American food with some sampling of SA foood.

Don't want to see the same game fence over and over during the hunt.

Some bird shooting mixed in with the plainsgame hunting.

An honest description of the hunt details in the website.

Muletrain Your answer is my take as well, except I don't want to stay in a lodge. All my safaris in Africa, have been either a tent camp, or thatched chalets, but I do enjoy in suite toilet, and shower. I'm basically a meat, and potatoes man, but love strong coffee with every meal, and I usually bring a pound or two of some good Louisiana coffee with me, to insure that. I don't drink alcohol, but simply love the bottled, orange squash they have in Zambia, and I assume in RSA as well.

The hunting, I like to drive looking for tracks,or game, then dismount, and walk them up, on foot! I want the place to be large enough to make the fences far away from my hunting!

I prefer a tent with ensuite toilet

Traditional SA food is fine, but any kind of food is OK so long as it is done well.

Photos and memories are what I treasure.

I like to be able to hunt as soon as I leave camp, as opposed to driving an hour or more to the hunting area.

quote:

1. does very body wanna stay in a fancy lodge ?
2. do you wanna eat traditional SA foods only ?
3. exept for your trophy what memories do you wanna take home
4. what do you expect from a SA safari

1. I only require a shower and a sink so that I can wash my contact lenses. However, if I have wife and step-daughter along the more creature comforts the better.

2. I enjoy the more exotic foods, so for me the more the better.

3. I most want a great hunting experience. Looking over lots of game,lots of stalking, even slowing down to watch some of the animals that I'm not hunting adds to the experience.

4. I expect a reasonable "fair-chase" hunt that I can feel good about. The game has a reasonable chance of escape. Any fenced areas have to be huge; preferably I only see a high fence when we come through and go out of the gate on arrival and departure.

Fanatic,
After one safari in Zimbabwe in 2005 I would have to respond to your questions such:
1. Does everybody want to stay in a fancy lodge?
No, I would not need nor desire a “fancy†lodge atmosphere to be comfortable while on a safari anywhere. It would be a very unique experience if I were to be housed in an old Boer farmhouse for a while on a safari in RSA. But, based on previous experience, I would be just as happy in a tent on a cot.
2. Do you want to eat traditional SA foods only?
I think it would be a crime to travel all those miles and not partake in the local cuisine. Hell I eat “American†food every day of my life. When I travel to a far off land, well, when in Rome...
3. Except for your trophy what memories do you want to take home?
The most cherished memories are not the trophies in my opinion. It is the entire experience. Visiting the local villages, watching the sun come up in the morning over a hot cup of tea and a near extinguished fire from the previous evening, having a sundowner or two and reliving the experiences of the day, and generally being able to relish a moment of life not dictated by a calendar or a clock. A life where the most important meeting you may have is with Mr. Kudu somewhere over in that patch of bush...
4. What do you expect from a SA safari?
I would expect absolute perfection. Now that may sound a bit presumptive, but allow me to explain...
What I would be looking for would be for my experience to be the be all, end all of safari experiences. Now that is not all on the outfitter or the PH. I think the bulk of that responsibility lies with me, the hunter. I expect to get the opportunity to hunt, not the opportunity to ride in the back of a truck all day slinging lead. I would expect to be able to halt any activity underway whenever I wanted so that I could take photos, take in the moment, or hop out to take a piss. I want to have the scratches on my shins to prove that I had been there and done that. I want to have the blisters and worn boots from my journey through MMBA. I would expect my PH to be able to give me some history on the area we were hunting in. I would want them to be able to identify certain types of plants and I would want them to be straight with me about everything that happens during the course of the safari.
Mainly I just want to have fun. I want everyone in camp - staff and hunters to have a great time. I would want to leave African knowing that I had done my best by the PH and that he had done his best by me. Not because of the money I was leaving with him, but because of a mutual respect that had developed.
Just one man's opinion.
Brian

I hate lodges.

The more rustic the better.

Tented hunts are the best.

Game fences turn me off.

I like tons of physical activity walks climbs packing meat. You know real hunting.

Food simple yet hearty.

The main reason I avoid hunting in SA is that for the most part it is just to tame and pampered.

And the SAP gun procedures are a waste of time especially after just spending 20+ hours on a friggin cattle car flight form the US.

I would hunt SA again if it was on a LARGE block of land it was conducted primarily on foot, with vehicle transport between the good areas of course, the camp was rustic and we could spend some nights out in the bush with a nice fire and a simple spike camp.

I want to take home some good memories. Maybe a nice trophy or two and most of all if I do take home a trophy or two I want the option of not getting screwed on the shipping. Sea freight is just fine for me when it comes to trophies.

I'd rather go on a tough hunt where we rally put out the effort in good country and not shoot a huge trophy head than shoot a monster that wasn't a challenge to hunt because it was in an enclosure or some other man made reason.

It would be wonderful if several operators combined resources and started a very large SA Conservancy with both tent camps and lodges.

Thanks for your input I realy appreciate it. It has given me great insight into how i should plan my operation. it is always good to challenge the norn and i believe hunting is a rough sport and it should not be easy.

Every trophy should have a story and must be taken with the necesary respect, effort and fair chase is the name of the game.

the only difficult thing is the fences unfortunately is game farms very expensive and huge open areas is not alwys availeble but with walk and stalk you stil work very hard for your trophy.

the farm im looking at is about 1500ha and i want to keep it very rustic and its not about quantity but more quality of the hunt. i know it will scare a few guys of but there is defenitely a market out there that wants to rough it up a bit. This can also make hunting less expensive.

Feel free to give your thoughts and i will keep you upto date on my progress

Thanks